Public Hotel Plans More $1 Room Sales

Ever since Public Chicago opened in the old Ambassador East Hotel space in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood in October, the hotel has become a hot spot. But it became an even hotter spot when its rooms went on sale for only $1 — and more dollar sales are coming. Ian Schrager’s Public announced the secret sale via social media, email and its website, saying 270 rooms would be available for a 90-day period (from February to April). But the hotel didn’t reveal when it would happen.

To get the details, you had to sign up on its site. As soon as we got the email around 9:30 a.m. Jan. 17 informing us the sale was live, we logged on and scored a room for a dollar (plus a 16-cent tax). The sale was supposed to last 48 hours, but rooms sold out in less than five minutes. We’re told that Schrager was delighted with the response of this blowout sale, and that there will be other super-cheap promotions in the future.

Hotel representatives don’t know when the next sale will be, but do yourself a favor and sign up online so you’ll have a chance to snag the next $1 room. What will you get for your four quarters? The sleek all-white rooms have pops of color in the flowers, throw blankets and other accents sprinkled throughout the space. And they are outfitted with platform beds dressed in luxe Frette linens, complimentary WiFi, flat-screen TVs and more. The $1 Chicago sales will be a good test run to see if you should check out the soon-to-open Public hotels in New York and London.